Welcome to our site, dedicated to people who live with or care for someone with an invisible chronic illness. We understand that many chronic illnesses are poorly understood and difficult to diagnose. All are challenging to treat. We have also learned that there are gifts and blessings that come from making peace with illness. The authors of this site, patient Joy H. Selak and rheumatologist Dr. Steve Overman, sympathize with these realities and the struggles of a life with illness. We are here to offer hope, help and support - for patients, their loved ones and the health care providers who serve them.

If you have found your way to our web site, Chronic Invisible Illness, we hope this means you have also found your way to our book, You Don't LOOK Sick! Living Well with Invisible Chronic Illness. In its pages, we take the reader through the 4 phases of the chronic illness experience: Getting Sick, Being Sick, Grief and Acceptance and Living Well. Through the personal stories of patient Joy Selak, and the compassionate commentary and travel tips offered by her doctor, Steve Overman, we hope you will identify with our shared journey and find your own unique path to living well, even if a cure is not available for you at this time.

It is our belief that compassionate care is a two way street and that patients and health care providers, by working together with empathy and cooperation, can achieve more positive outcomes for both. On this site, we offer our visitors an opportunity to access helpful resources, add own success stories and find activities that may be of use in your practice or patient support group.

If you represent a patient or physician advocacy group, please consider including us in your next conference, webinar, on line interview or newsletter. If you have a publication, we would love to send you a review copy of our book or submit an article for consideration. Since the publication of the first edition of You Don't LOOK Sick! in 2005, we have enjoyed speaking to dozens of groups in the US and abroad, sharing our message that it is possible to live well, even if you can't get well. We may be reached by email at joy@joywrites.com.